Requirements and Criteria

Home & Hospice Care of Rhode Island has a few requirements for volunteers.

• We require 9 hours of class training, General Agency Orientation & Volunteer Training, several take-home competencies and compliance with HHCRI's policies for ethics, confidentiality and HIPAA.
• Student volunteers must be at least 16; they do not have direct patient contact. Patient volunteers must be at least 18 years old.
• We do criminal checks through the Bureau of Criminal Investigation through the state Attorney General's office.
• Finally, there is a one-year waiting period for people who have experienced the death of a loved one. 

All volunteers must conform to agency policies and must complete our application process. This includes completing an application, an interview, a criminal background check, reference check, immunization record, completion of our compliance requirements and competency evaluations. Patient volunteers must complete approximately 11 hours of in-class instruction - the General Agency Orientation and a volunteer training.

New trainees should be without a significant loss within their family or among their close friends at least one year before entering direct patient/family care training. Annual performance evaluations are completed for each volunteer.